


I'll Unfold Before You

by smc_27



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, fake dating because why not amirite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:20:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25511962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smc_27/pseuds/smc_27
Summary: “Oh my god, babe,” she says, really playing it up, and stops right in front of the hot guy, slides her hand up his chest onto his neck, and gives him pleading eyes, whispers, “Please just go with it.”He smiles immediately, easily, and puts a hand on her hip a little more clumsily than she was expecting.Oh.“Hey, you.”
Relationships: Harry Bingham/Allie Pressman
Comments: 12
Kudos: 144





	I'll Unfold Before You

She’s looking straight ahead because she’s afraid of looking behind her again. Because the guy called her ‘baby’, did this gross gesture she did her best not to react to, and then asked where she was headed, and he’s been walking behind her for two blocks. She _was_ going home, and she can see her building, but there’s no way in hell she’s going to go home and let this creep know where she lives. She also doesn’t want him to notice her noticing him following her. 

To her knowledge, this kind of thing has never happened before. Like, yeah, men are trash, so she’s been hit on and catcalled and received unwanted attention, because who hasn’t? But in all her 27 years Allie’s never felt like she was _in danger_ , and even now, even when she’s a little scared, it registers to her that this is probably rare - to get to this age and never felt this. It pisses her off and scares her more.

There are people on the streets, but it’s late and dark and her shirt is sticking to her skin, her hair a wild mess from the humidity. She was just out for drinks with a few friends, shared a bottle of wine between the three of them and then decided to walk home because it’s only 11:00 and, well, she didn’t think _this_ would happen. 

She turns the corner around her building and resists the urge to look up at her little fire escape patio, which is definitely breaking some rules but she doesn’t care and it’s cute. She wishes she’d just stayed in, made herself some stupid cocktail and sat outside soaking up the summer heat.

When she looks up from her feet, she sees this guy leaving the building next to hers. She’s seen him around the neighbourhood a few times, and noticed him because he’s stupid hot. Seriously. The kind of hot you can’t take your eyes off until he’s noticed, and he _knows it_. And they’ve never spoken, because why would they? And she doesn’t think he’s ever actually noticed her, because why would he? Like, other than liking the attention, because of course he does. He’s never even actually smiled at her, just caught her eyes a couple times. Once when she was struggling with groceries and another when she almost missed dodging the garbage pile because she was looking at him. Obviously, really good impressions made. 

Ugh. 

But…

She turns her head just a little to see if the creep is still there, and he is, which is the _only_ thing that could’ve actually made her commit to this stupid, _stupid_ thing she’s about to do. 

“Oh my god, babe,” she says, really playing it up, and stops right in front of the hot guy, slides her hand up his chest onto his neck, and gives him pleading eyes, whispers, “Please just go with it.”

He smiles immediately, easily, and puts a hand on her hip a little more clumsily than she was expecting. 

_Oh_. 

“Hey, you.”

Allie’s going to fucking scream. He smiles, quirks his lips as if he’s asking her to continue this stupid (has she mentioned how _stupid this is_?) performance. 

“I thought you said you couldn’t meet tonight.” 

“Ah. Thought I’d surprise you,” he says, and then, like he just _knows_ , looks over her shoulder subtly. He must see _something_ , because he looks at her lips blatantly, almost like he’s asking her permission, and she bats her lashes like...Okay, she doesn’t know what the fuck she’s trying to communicate, but he does lean in and kiss her, so. “I know you love surprises.”

Okay, filing _that_ voice away for later. 

It’s absolutely the most absurd thing on the planet to reply to that by draping both arms over his shoulders, smiling at him, and saying, “Almost as much as I love you.” 

The creep walks past, still looking at her in a way that makes her completely uncomfortable. Stupid hot guy gives the guy a shitty look and the guy says something really filthy that she doesn’t want to repeat. It makes stupid hot guy look at her with his brows furrowed like _what the fuck?_ and then she’s watching the creep walk away. He spits on the sidewalk, too, which is just like, one of the most disgusting things humans do. 

She doesn’t move away from this guy, and he doesn’t take his hands off her hips, so there’s that. 

“Thank you,” she says, feeling suddenly nervous. “And sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he tells her, and then she notices he still looks concerned. “Are you okay?”

For some reason, she wasn’t expecting that. Maybe because she’s put off by mens’ actions in general right now. But her entire interaction with stupid hot guy is reminding her that everything isn’t terrible. 

“Yeah, I think. I just...Got scared?” She doesn’t know why she sounds unsure of it, or like it isn’t a valid reaction to being followed like that. She pulls her arms away. “Um.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, grinning a little, and like, she’s never seen his features this soft before, and she likes it. A lot. He lets go of her hips. 

Why does this feel so awkward?

(Could it be because they’ve never spoken ever, and she just ambushed him and put on an act and he kissed her and she said she _loves him_? Fear will make you do some crazy shit, apparently.) 

“You’re heading out somewhere. I won’t keep you.” He puts his brow up, bends his head just so and sort of makes it look like he wouldn’t mind being kept, and like, she doesn’t have capacity right now to think about that any harder. “I appreciate your on the fly acting skills.”

He smiles softly again, lets out this little laugh, and why isn’t she turning around to walk home? That is a thing she should be doing, not just like, looking at his face. 

“You live around here, right?” he asks, and she nods. (Also, she registers that means he’s noticed her. That she’s not just some woman he caught checking him out. That he remembers _her_.) “I can walk you home, if that would make you feel better?”

He says it delicately, like he knows she might still be rattled and he doesn’t want to make her feel like he’s doing the same thing the gross guy was just doing. Which she appreciates. But it’s literally like 100 feet to the door of her building. But she wants to say yes, because...reasons.

Mostly, honestly, she likes the way he’s looking at her.

“I’m just around the corner. I don’t want to take more of your time.”

(It’s a lie. She does.)

“I’m not in a rush.” Allie gives him a little smile and turns, and he falls into step with her as she walks slowly towards her place. “Also I don’t have plans. I was just craving chocolate, and…” He points to the corner store across the street. Allie thinks that’s kind of adorable, okay? Like, this grown, gorgeous man just wanting chocolate? Ugh. “What?”

Shit. Was she staring again? 

“What kind of chocolate?” she asks, and he lets out this laugh that kind of catches her off guard. “You’re probably into some fancy, 85% dark chocolate.” 

He smiles and looks downward, which...He really is _stupidly hot_.

“Milky Way all day.”

Her jaw drops and she stops walking, puts her hand on his arm. He looks at her like he’s confused, or something. 

“Are you kidding?” He shakes his head. “I love Milky Ways. Have you ever put one in the freezer?”

He squints, intrigued. “No. Should I?” Allie nods, and then this guy takes her hand and her heart races and he says, “My treat.” 

And like. Okay? Yes. _Yes_ , she thinks eating cheap chocolate with this guy whose name she doesn’t even know on what may be the hottest night of the year is exactly what she should be doing right now. He lets go of her hand so he can open the door and holds it for her. Allie feels the relief of the AC and only then thinks she must look like an absolute wreck. She can feel the sweat on her skin. 

This guy gets four bars; two for now, and one each for their freezers, and like, _ugh_ , she hates herself just a little for even entertaining her enjoyment of this - whatever this is - when like 10 minutes ago she was terrified because of a different stranger. He pays with cash, but she catches a glimpse of a black card in his wallet, and looks away because she feels like it’s rude of her to have looked. She pushes her hair off her forehead and he smiles, then pushes the door open so she has to brush past him to walk through.

As they wait for the light, she says, “I’m Allie, by the way.” 

Maybe it doesn’t matter, but she feels the need to tell him her name at this point. 

His reply is an easy, “That’s pretty,” and then looks bashful at having said it, which...She may have been wrong about him. She smiles, though, presses her lips together because...She _likes_ him. So far. “Harry.”

Not what she was expecting whatsoever. She likes it. 

As they cross the street, she feels giddy and silly and maybe slightly overheated, and asks, “Should we shake hands, or did we cover off intros when you kissed me?”

He lets out a laugh, gives her a look she likes too much. “Excuse me, I’m a method actor and I was under pressure.” 

This is _so dumb_.

“It was okay.”

He narrows his eyes. She can’t tell if he’s pretending or if it’s genuine. “ _Okay_?”

She’s almost, _almost_ tempted to say something about wanting another take, but that is _too far_ , Allie. 

What she says instead is, “It was a little quick,” which is absolutely too forward, and makes him look at her like he’s pleased, but doesn’t know what to _do_ with that. Which...it’s a cute expression. She wouldn’t mind seeing it again.

They stop in front of her building and she gestures that it’s hers, but there’s a ledge and he sits down, opens the wrapper of his chocolate bar, and Allie sits next to him and does the same. It’s honestly been so long since she had one of these, and she resists the urge to let out a sound upon first bite. 

“What do you do, Harry?”

He grins. “You mean, you don’t buy that I’m actually an actor?” She laughs, hoping that he isn’t _actually an actor_ , or something. “Close. Producer.”

She feels the surprised look on her face. “Seriously?” He shrugs. Okay, so. Right. “Intimidating.” 

He looks slightly put off. “I’m not.”

“Okay,” she laughs, and then smiles at him gently. “Handsome, kind, obviouslywealthy, entertainment industry guy. It’s intimidating.”

“Okay, well.” He turns, seems poised for an argument, but then just smiles at her instead and finishes with, “What do you do?”

“I’m a wedding planner.”

“You are not,” he says, like he doesn’t quite believe it. 

She grins a little. “I’m not.” He lets out a little chuckle and she bumps his elbow with hers. “I work in the DA’s office.”

“Doing what?” he asks, and it’s a valid question, right? There’s a tiny bit of caramel on his bottom lip, but she thinks there’s something adorable and maybe sexy about it. 

“I’m a lawyer.”

Harry laughs out loud, gives her a look like she’s insane, or something. “And you say you work in the DA’s office instead of saying you’re a lawyer because…?” Allie shoves the last bite of her chocolate bar into her mouth and crumples the wrapper. There’s melted chocolate on her thumb and she licks it off. He’s distracted by it and she likes that. “That’s right. It’s intimidating.”

“Guess it’s a good thing this was all pretend, then,” she says, and he just stares blankly after finishing his chocolate bar. He finally swipes his tongue along his bottom lip, and there goes that caramel, and god, she needs to stop watching his _tongue_. “If we’re intimidated by one another.”

Harry smiles, bends his head again. So that’s a _thing_ he does. 

Then he almost whispers, “It wasn’t all pretend,” and Allie feels her brow go up, and what the _fuck_ is happening? 

She has a lot of questions. Like, for one, what the hell is he talking about? What wasn’t pretend? What was real? Why does she care, and why is he looking at her like that?

“I should go inside,” she says, and it comes out all soft, and Harry just blinks and nods gently, and then he presses her second Milky Way into her palm and his fingers brush her wrist, and… “Come up for a drink.”

She meant to _ask_ , but also this works. 

“Are you sure?” he asks, and Allie stands, glances at him, and like, is he serious? 

“Do I not sound sure?”

Yeah, that came out hotter than she intended it to, but he gives her that _look_ again, the one she thinks means he wants her, and stands up, and then he’s following her through the door to her building and sets his hand on the small of her back when they get to the elevators. She’s sweating through her shirt there, she’s sure, and his touch is too warm but she likes it anyway. 

When they get to her apartment, she tries not to think of how messy her bedroom may be. It’s not _so_ bad, she just couldn’t decide what to wear earlier and there are definitely a few items still on her bed she figured she’d just deal with later. 

Jesus, why is she thinking about her bed as if he’s going to see it? 

She tosses her candy bar into the freezer and sees the bottle of vodka in there, then closes the door and looks at him. He’s standing in her living room, hand in his pocket, looking at the art on her walls. 

“Do you actually want a drink?” she asks, because…she just has a feeling, you know?

Harry turns to her, takes a few steps closer, smiles a little and blinks. The way he says, “Not necessarily,” makes her want him more, which is dangerous. 

When he sets his hand on her hip this time, all his earlier hesitation is gone. His fingers flex, and he’s looking down at her, and she definitely, definitely wants this. Him. 

“Have you ever done this before?” 

He looks amused, which she doesn’t want to be embarrassed by. 

“Once or twice,” he says, and she can tell he’s teasing, but also this is the same voice as earlier, and it is just so… _much_.

“I don’t mean...I mean…” Harry laughs softly, then reaches up and slides his thumb from the bottom of her chin, along her jaw, then over her earlobe. It is _too hot for this_. “This is crazy.” 

His brow quirks, and she watches his tongue wet his bottom lip. “Hell of a story, though.” 

She can’t think about that right now. Like they have some kind of future, or...Who are they going to tell? God. 

Harry kisses her, and she grabs onto his shirt, and then, a few moments later, he’s saying something about how pretty she is, and then chuckles softly when she lets out a sound, and she tells him he tastes like chocolate, which makes him smirk at her and lead her to her sofa, and like…

Considering all this started by playing pretend, it’s making her a little crazy that it now feels really real.


End file.
